The toy industry is one of the industries that experiences most changes globally within a limited period of time (Johnson, 2001). Due to this shift in various aspects such as consumers preference, most toy suppliers are given less time to come up with the necessary changes in their productions that will fit the consumers needs (Johnson, 2001). As a result, some of these companies are experiencing losses, and immediate response is required. The question of how sales can be improved to match the ever-improving toy market has been raised, and immediate response is being required. Galaxy saw a rise of 3% only in their production over the past year which was way below their target, and this raised a lot of concerns from their owners (Galaxy Toys, 2017). As a result, some long terms have been set in an attempt to increase these sales. In this paper, a SWOT analysis will be developed for a review of the necessary recommendations that the toy company can take so as to bolster their sales.
Apart from developing the SWOT analysis, other areas will also be highlighted in this paper which includes the strengths and weaknesses of the analysis. These will be helpful as they will give VP of Production an idea of what to expect of the recommendations included in the SWOT analysis. In return, the alignment of the production teams for this toy company can work on improving the strengths as well as working on the weaknesses so as to minimize them as much as possible. Likewise, long-term recommendations will be presented in this paper which Galaxy Toys company can follow so as to ensure more sales in the future. Factors that contribute to the long-term recommendations will also be presented such that the long term, as well as the short-term production goals, can be understood properly. At the end of the paper, a summary of the entire paper will be presented to summarize all the main sections discussed.
| Strengths: | Weaknesses: |
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– Most of the products of Galaxy toys are sold to customers directly without the involvement of many parties. – Galaxy Toys have one of the most stores in the United States of America and some other outlets globally (Galaxy Toys, 2017). The market is therefore assured due to the wide market. – The introduction of two product lines would lead to creating attention from many consumers all over the world. Payload Nine toys and MMTJE1 would guarantee Galaxy toys a rise in their number of sales that they make annually. – MMTJE1 toys have the strength in that they would attract interest all over the country due to their advanced technological capability. These toys will have the ability to give their consumers a new experience of the modern technological world, and this would give Galaxy toys an edge over their competitors. |
– Specialization in the two brands, Payload Nine toys, and MMTJE1 would minimize the number of brands that Galaxy toys are dealing with. This will see their competitors have the upper hand in case they decide to deal with more brands. – Most of the profits at this company are expected to be made towards the end of the year, mostly during the Christmas period (Johnson, 2001). Therefore, the other periods of the year will not do not have much profit, and this might continue to affect the company. – A lot of capital is expected to be used in the production of MMTJE1 and Payload Nine toys (Galaxy Toys, 2017)sss. Galaxy Toys are taking the risk with the expectations that profits will be accrued in the future. However, there is no guarantee that profit will be made and this might turn out to be a weakness in the future. |
| Opportunities: | Threats: |
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– MMTJE1 is offering Galaxy toys an opportunity to expand their market both in the United States and globally. These toys are expected to contain new futures such as 3D printing technology. The sales of these toys will also introduce an opportunity to sell other related products such as similar toys to MMTJE1 and books. This will expand the market of Galaxy toys. – Payload Nine toys are similar toys which will introduce an opportunity for Galaxy toys to improve their sales in the market. The main benefit of this brand of toys will offer an opportunity in such a way that they will not require much personnel in their production. Therefore, the cost will not be high. – Galaxy toys can get the opportunity to work with other toy companies due to their brilliant innovation plan of coming up with the two brands of toys. |
– The main threat that Galaxy toys will face is stiff competition from other producers of toys. One of the best country known for producing toys is China (Egels-Zandén,, 2007). The suppliers of toys in this country have the edge over their competitors globally due to the quality products that they produce. With the plan that Galaxy toys have to be competitive in the market, they will face stiff competition from this nation. – Apart from competition from other countries for the sale of toys globally, Galaxy toys will also face domestic competition from local suppliers of toys such as Toys “R” Us. In order for Galaxy toys to make more sales globally, they will have first to ensure that they are dominant in the local market and other companies offer a threat to this opportunity. |
Some of the facts were concluded to be strengths due to some considerations that were seemed to favor Galaxy toys in the sales of their products. The considerations made include;
1. Direct involvement of consumers- the reason why this was considered as a strength was due to the fact that introduction of Payload Nine and MMTJE1 in the market would involve most of the consumers, especially kids directly. Advertisement of these two brands of toys would be made through commercials as well as the involvement of some films in the United States entertainment industry. This would capture the attention of most consumers and Galaxy toys would be involved entirely in the sales of the products.
2. A number of stores in the United States and the global market- though there is stiff competition from some of the best sellers of toys in the United States, Galaxy toys is one of the companies that has the most outlets and suppliers in the toys market globally. The reason why this is considered as a strength is due to the fact that introduction of MMTJE1 and Payload Nine toys would be involved in the market immediately, without the need to look for new consumers. Galaxy toys have quite a number of consumers, and as a result, these consumers would be targeted when these products are being introduced in the market.
3. The introduction of both Payload Nine toys and MMTJE1 toys- innovation in the toys industry is considered to be one of the hardest things to achieve in the modern world. The introduction of the two kinds of toys by Galaxy is a strength because it will prove to be the creativity of the highest level. This introduction would give galaxy an upper hand since they will have more products to boost within the market.
4. The strength of MMTJE1- this type of toys by galaxy will have the upper hand and its considered to be one of the biggest strengths of Galaxy. The introduction of these types of toys will also enable galaxy to be able to sell other related products such as books. The consideration made is that MMTJE1 will be able to boost the number of sales of Galaxy and improve these numbers from the rise of 3% witnessed last year.
1. Lack of different types of toys- incase galaxy decides to specialize on MMTJE1 types of toys, this will leave the company with limited options in terms of the number of brands that they can compete in the market. In case the idea of the new introduction fails there is a possibility that losses will be incurred.
2. The period at which profits are made- another weakness is that the only time that profits are expected to be experienced by Galaxy is towards the end of the year. This limits the profits made by the galaxy in that the other periods of the year will not have much profit. As a result, the cost of production might be high, leading to losses.
3. The cost of production- it’s a weakness due to the consideration that over $900,000 is expected to be used in the production of MMTJE1. The amount will be used to take care of budget and labor among other few things.
The recommended long-term planning decision that should be adopted by Galaxy is the production of 1.5 million MMTJE1 toys for Christmas 2018 (Galaxy Toys, 2017). The reason due to this is because long term investment is one of the best forms of investments in business today. A lot of returns will be expected in this long-term planning by Galaxy, and there is a guarantee of profit to be made. One of the factors that are used in evaluating the long-term goals is the comparison with other top producers of toys in the world today. China, for example, is considered as one of the best producers of toys because their investment in this business is always in long-term planning (Egels-ZandULJn, 2007).
Galaxy toys should follow the following goals and objectives;
| Appropriate Short-term Goals | Appropriate objectives | Goals and objectives to be abandoned |
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– Production of quality MMTJE1 Toys must start February 20th, 2018. – Additional personnel must be hired by February 20th, 2018. – 3D printers must be purchased by February 20th, 2018. – The first MMTJE1 toys should be produced by December 1, 2017.; – Safety standards should be determined by QC by May 1, 2017. – Personnel for all production functions must be organized by March 31, 2017.; – IT must confirm programming for 3D printers is complete by June 1, 2017. |
– Dates for starting production set – Completion dates for new personnel hire set. – Completion dates for material purchase and delivery set.; – Completion dates for QC standards will be determined by QC.; – Shipping should begin immediately upon the nod from Quality Control.; -;Shipping start dates should be determined. – Maintenance for 3D printers must be done daily. – Personnel must be cross trained on the 3D printers. – Dates for personnel hire set.; -;Maintenance for 3D printers must be done daily. |
– Production of quality MMTJE1 toys must start by July 1, 2018. – MMTJE1 quality toys production; – Materials must be state of the art. – 3D printers must be purchased and installed by November 1, 2017. – Materials must be purchased by and delivered by July 1, 2017. – New packages should be palletized by May 1, 2018. – Training on new equipment must be done by October 31, 2017. – Completion dates for 3D programming, training and installation set.; -;Personnel must be cross trained on the 3D printers. |
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Short-term goals included those that had their dates set, and they could be achieved in the shortest time possible by the company. On the other hand, appropriate objectives involved those that complemented the short-term goals, meaning that they were necessary for the short-term goals to be achieved. Some ideas were left out since it was decided that Galaxy toys can achieve most of the short-term goals without these ideas affecting the operations a great deal.
Summary
In general, this paper has laid out a SWOT analysis for Galaxy toys where the necessary steps that should be followed have been laid out. These steps will be very helpful in enabling the company to boost their sales which have raised a lot of concerns recently to the owners of the company. The weaknesses have to be looked into carefully as well as the threats. Production of MMTJE1 is expected to be a great success if the short-term, as well as the long-term plans laid out in this analysis, are followed carefully. These toys will boost not only the sales of Galaxy toys but also, the publicity of the company.
References
Galaxy Toys, Inc. Company Profile.,. Retrieved March 05, 2017, from http://galaxytoys.com.au/
Egels-ZandULJn, N. (2007). Supplierst compliance with MNCst codes of conduct: Behind the scenes at Chinese toy suppliers. Journal of Business Ethics, 75(1), 45-62.
Johnson, M. E. (2001). Learning from toys: Lessons in managing supply chain risk from the toy industry. California Management Review, 43(3), 106-124.
https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_05.htm
R. (2013, May 06). Goals, Objectives, Strategies ; Tactics: What’s the difference? Retrieved March 05, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voZI75TyeHI https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv
Lesson 1: Thesis Lesson 2: Introduction Lesson 3: Topic Sentences Lesson 4: Close Readings Lesson 5: Integrating Sources Lesson 6:…
Lesson 1: Thesis Lesson 2: Introduction Lesson 3: Topic Sentences Lesson 4: Close Readings Lesson 5: Integrating Sources Lesson 6:…
Lesson 1: Thesis Lesson 2: Introduction Lesson 3: Topic Sentences Lesson 4: Close Readings Lesson 5: Integrating Sources Lesson 6:…
Lesson 1: Thesis Lesson 2: Introduction Lesson 3: Topic Sentences Lesson 4: Close Readings Lesson 5: Integrating Sources Lesson 6:…
Lesson 1: Thesis Lesson 2: Introduction Lesson 3: Topic Sentences Lesson 4: Close Readings Lesson 5: Integrating Sources Lesson 6:…
Lesson 1: Thesis Lesson 2: Introduction Lesson 3: Topic Sentences Lesson 4: Close Readings Lesson 5: Integrating Sources Lesson 6:…